Injuries in the N.F.L.

Order Description
Research Paper Final Draft is largely based on your inclusion of these elements and the overall quality of your writing. Your paper must contain the following elements.
1. Cover page and APA formatting:
You should include an APA-style cover page for your Research Paper. Your cover page should include the following: the title of your paper, your name, and the name of your university. The running head should include up to 50 characters from the title of the paper, along with a sequential page number in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Abstract:
The abstract is a 150-250 word summary of your Research Paper, and it should be written only after you have finished writing the entire paper because how your abstract is worded largely depends on the development of your paper. Your abstract should be accurate, self-contained, concise and specific, non-evaluative, coherent, and readable. Your abstract may be modeled after the theoretical paper model or empirical study model. Note that the abstract presented references MLA, but yours should be in APA style. The abstract should be the second page in the paper, after the cover page, and the abstract should be on its own page. The text of the paper itself should begin on page 3. Your abstract must meet the following standards: EH 1020, English Composition II 14
• Be 150-250 words
• Be located on the second page of your final draft
• Have a heading of Abstract that is centered at the top of the page.

3. Introduction:
There are some pitfalls to writing an introductory paragraph be aware.
4. Review of literature:
The review of literature should be a smooth transition from the introduction of your paper and should present a controlled summary of the conversation surrounding your topic.
5. Body paragraphs:
Each paragraph of the body of your Research Paper should be a cohesive unit. It should be tight, but developed. It should serve a function, and its purpose should always be to bolster the thesis. Therefore, you should use the following order for each paragraph in the body.
a. Topic sentence: This sentence summarizes the entire paragraph in one strong, well-written sentence, and it directly supports the thesis statement.
b. Explanation of topic sentence (1-2 sentences): Often times there is more to be said about the topic sentence, more explanation that is necessary in order for it to be a clear idea, so there are usually a few sentences that follow the topic sentence that explicate the idea more for the reader. These sentences not only “unpack” the topic sentence, but they also anticipate the evidence that will be used to support the topic sentence, usually indirectly.
c. Introduction to evidence (1-2 sentences): No piece of evidence (quotation, example, paraphrase, etc.) should be dropped into a paragraph without first introducing it. An introduction might include the title of the source, the author, and/or a short description of the source/author’s credentials. In this way, no evidence is presented without a context because it is this context that makes the evidence meaningful.
d. Evidence: The evidence that you present backs up your topic sentence, and by extension, supports your thesis statement. The evidence that you supply can be a number of things: a quotation from a source; a reasonable, illustrative example; a statistic; commentary from an interview; etc.
e. Explanation of evidence: No piece of evidence stands on its own or is convincing on its own. Although it may seem to draw a direct line to your topic sentence to support it, often the reader needs you to make the connection between the two. Further, the general rule is that for each sentence of quoted material, your explanation should be just as long, so if you include a block quotation, the block quotation should be met with an equally long explanation.

f. Transition (1-2 sentences): Transitions are essential for research papers because body paragraphs, especially, are written as units, and it is the transitions that allow for these units to be linked together.
6. Conclusion:
Your conclusion should pull together your entire paper. Do not consider the conclusion a summary of your paper; your abstract is the summary of your paper. Instead, your conclusion is your opportunity to suggest what might be done with your findings. A good conclusion will restate the thesis, place a judgment on the issue discussed, discuss the implications of your findings, issue a directive or call to action to the reader, and close out the paper with a strong final thought. However, depending upon your topic and your treatment of that topic, the conclusion may take different forms. Your conclusion for this paper must be at least 150 words. If the conclusion is less than the word count, it is likely you have not fully developed your conclusion, and this lack of development can severely impact your paper.
“SEE DRAFT BELOW”
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) in the NFL
Terry Hines
University

Abstract
It is obvious that contact sports have gained remarkable attention from American nationals. For instance, American Football is a common sport in the US. However, this is one sport, in which players are exposed to chances of severe injuries, especially head injuries. Severe injuries are reported frequently, though players wear protective equipment to reduce chances of injury. Those who sustain head injuries are most likely to suffer concussions. Given the correlation between concussions, Traumatic Brain Injuries and health effects on professional athletes, a critical evaluation of the adverse effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries on the health of NFL players has been carried out. The evaluation has established that Traumatic Brain Injuries pose various health risks to NFL players such as trauma, visual perceptual disorders, memory disorders and cognitive disorders.

Introduction
Contact sports are becoming ever more popular in America today. The implications of this are that most professional athletes started competing in their sports of choice at a very early age. Due to the nature of most contact sports, many if not all players are exposed to the probably of succumbing to injury at least once in their careers regardless of the sport. However, American football is one sport that its players are exposed to chances of severe injuries. Despite the fact that the players wear protective equipment to reduce chances of injury, they still do happen.
There are numerous injuries that a football player is exposed to. The most prevalent injuries include knee, ankle, upper leg, shoulder, and head injuries. For a very long time little concern had been paid to head injuries sustained while playing rugby. One cannot definitively say why little attention was paid to the long term effect to repeated head injuries that players are exposed to. Players do wear helmets to protect their heads but the fact of the matter is, football players still get head injuries and some result to concussions.
A concussion is defined head injury caused by a bump or sudden blow to one’s head. The brain being made up of soft tissue and suspended in spinal fluid in the head, a blow to the head could make the brain to hit the side of the brain causing injury. There has been growing concern surrounding the impact of concussion on professional athletes in the National Football League (NFL). Research conducted so far suggest there is a correlation between concussions sustained by professional athletes when playing football and long term decoration of brain functions of affected athletes.
Review of Literature
There are various consequences associated with concussions. The health consequences of concussions are well illustrated by an article by Guskiewicz, et al (2007). In the article, Guskiewicz and colleagues recorded the outcome of a study on the effects of concussions on mental health among professional football players. The study sought to examine the impact of repeated concussions or traumatic brain injury on mental health outcomes especially in the development of depression. Guskiewicz et’ al surveyed 2552 retired professional football players. The study focused on two health outcomes, namely mild cognitive impairment and depression. Results from the study show that all participants recorded or reported cases of clinical depression. However, the number of cases increased with the number of concussions, suggesting that multiple concussions increased the risk of depression and mild cognitive impairment. Players who reported one or more concussion was more likely to be diagnosed with depression. This particular article emphasizes the need for more research into the impact of concussions as well as the ways of treating them.
The negative effects of concussions are further illustrated by an article by Wohowiak (2015). In the article, Wohowiak noted that head injuries and their long-term effects are taking a forefront in sports discussions. According to the article, around 2.5 million hospital visits arise each year as a result of either mild or severe traumatic brain trauma. These visits result in either hospitalization or even sometimes death. The article further noted that the cost of managing traumatic brain injuries is immense, amounting to over $221 billion according to 2009 estimates. Wohowiak, (2015) further pointed out that traumatic brain injuries may lead to negative health outcomes and conditions, including sadness, irritability and difficulty thinking clearly among others. Long term effects include depression, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. These negative effects have pushed various stakeholders to adopt measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of concussions.
The potential negative impacts of concussions or mild brain injury could be the reason various institutions are devoting their resources to tackle the problem. An article by Rosenberg (2015) provides an overview of the actions taken by the University of California to tackle concussions. According to Rosenberg (2015), around3.8 million people in the US suffer from concussions each year. While, most people recover from the concussion, those who suffer from it become more vulnerable to another concussion and poorer health outcomes as compared to those who do not. Rosenberg further noted that UC has devoted a lot of resources in the diagnosis and provision of care to those who suffer from concussions. Together with the NCAA and the Department of Defense, UC is conducting a three-year study on concussions so as to understand the effect, as well as, their pathophysiology. The study will also shed light on whether players who suffer from concussions should be allowed to play again in the league. Over the last seven years, UC has invested a lot of resources to study the condition. There are more than 100 investigators from the institution conducting more than 330 studies on concussions or traumatic brain injuries.
Lack of knowledge about concussions, their diagnosis and treatment can also be a contributing factor in the increase in interest among various stakeholders in the NFL. An article published in the Industry News provides an important overview of the scope of funding of research that seeks to improve diagnosis and treatment of mild traumatic brain injury. According to the article, six finalists were awarded a total of $60 million under the Head Health Challenge 1 program. The finalists include the University of Montana, University of California, Brain Scope Company, Banyan Biomarkers and Medical College of Wisconsin. The Head Heath Challenge, a four-year program, seeks to increase knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of head concussions across the globe. The program is sponsored by General Electric, NFL, Conn and Fairfield (CLP, 2015).
The focus of the finalist that includes diagnosis and treatment provide a glimpse of the current knowledge on concussions, sentiments that are reflected by the articles by Rosenberg (2015) and Guskiewicz, et al (2007). The two articles noted that there is no formal way of diagnosing concussions, and the existing ones are out-dated. Banyan Biomarkers and the University of Florida are trying to develop a point of care instruments that can diagnose moderate and mild brain trauma using biomarkers. On the other hand, University of Montana is developing blood-based biomarkers to speed up the diagnosis of concussions. The studies have the potential to shed new light on concussions and their pathophysiology, as well as, the efficacy of new interventions.
An article Armstrong (2015) further illustrates the problems associated with the diagnosis and management of brain injuries. According to Armstrong (2015), the existing methods of managing brain trauma are mostly invasive and may not be appropriate for patients with mild or minor trauma. The current standard procedures are invasive in nature and involve the insertion of a catheter into the skull of the patient. Due to the negative impact of the procedure including the increased probability of infections, Phillips and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have teamed up to develop a non-invasive method of managing brain injuries. The new method incorporates MIT’s physiological modeling technology and Phillips ultrasound technology. The new technology will allow physicians to estimate trauma and, therefore, enable the doctors to manage the condition. The new modality will allow doctors to manage concussions and other forms of brain trauma without increasing the risk of patients suffering from brain damage that may result from invasive techniques.
Adverse Effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries on Health
There are various adverse health effects, which accrue from Traumatic Brain Injuries. For instance, Repeated Traumatic Brain Injuries among NFL players often cause trauma to those involved and a burden to the society. Traumatic Brain Injuries occur when the brain is damaged by sudden and violent injuries that cause trauma. Trauma renders an individual’s ability to integrate his or her emotional experience devastated. This subjects an individual to a threat of bodily integrity, sanity, and most shockingly, a threat of life. Often, people with trauma are unable to cope with a current, adverse effect on their health. They therefore, remain fearful to threats of death, psychosis and annihilation. The adverse effect of Traumatic Brain Injuries does not only fall on injured NFL players or victims, but also spreads to the society. Also, the effect is not felt on health aspects alone, but also causes economical, social and emotional prices on society. This burden is quite heavy on the individual and on society. According to Zhang, Young and King (2004), it is evident that movement of the brain and its functioning in an injured skull is hampered by the injury itself. Traumatic Brain Injuries on a NFL player may cause irreversible change in the brain functioning. Also, as evidenced by Zollman (2011), it is common for NFL games’ participants to continue playing when they incur minor head injuries because they have to exhibit a culture of toughness. This predisposes them to Traumatic Brain Injuries, putting them at a risk for repeated brain trauma as shown by Zollman (2011). For instance, a prospective cohort study carried on about 2,905 collegiate football players from 1999 to 2001 showed that 6.5% of the players had incurred more than one Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in one season, with 1.6% of the players incurring three or more concussions (Zollman, 2011). In another study, surveying certified athletic trainers in high school and collegiate football, 5.1% of 17,549 players were said to have had at least one concussion annually while 14.7% had more than one concussion in the same period (Zollman, 2011). It was also established that players who had more than three concussions were thrice more likely to develop trauma. The victims go through hard times as they seek to remedy or cope with their health situation. This also affects the society because such victims hail from families, which are part of the society.
In addition to trauma, Traumatic Brain Injuries among NFL players lead to cognitive disorders. Cognitive disorders are disorders in an individual’s mental health, which cause defects on learning, perception, memory and problem solving. It should be noted that serious head injuries can cause cognitive disorders, which in turn, hamper an individual’s functional ability in learning, memorizing, having a clear and right perception and critical problem solving. This means that victims of Traumatic Brain Injuries have normally undergone severe trauma. They have impairments in vigilance. Therefore, such people cannot maintain attention longitudinally for a long time, yet there are those who do show increased distractibility within the context of normal vigilance. Such people fail to exhibit appropriate divided and selective attention and sustained attention, as evidenced by Granacher (2007). CDC (2014) shows that about 5.3 million citizens of the United States live with Traumatic Brain Injuries related disability. They exhibit problems in creating and sustaining family and friend relationships, doing household tasks and participating in activities of daily living. This may happen to NFL players who incur Traumatic Brain Injuries. This is because Traumatic Brain Injuries adversely affect operation of control processes of the brain that are slow and effortful. Sustained attention, often referred to as vigilance is the ability to maintain concentration on a task over a continuous period. Divided attention, on the other hand, is the ability to work on two tasks simultaneously or multitask while selective attention is the ability to maintain concentration on a specific task amid distractions. With Traumatic Brain Injuries, impairments of attention occur, rendering the victim unable to process multiple stimuli or tasks. One of the major cognitive functions that is greatly affected by Traumatic Brain Injuries is divided attention because it requires a great degree of central processing. Deficiency or problems with cognitive functioning may not be recognized among injured people because they only become prominent when the cognitive load is placed as a demand on the injured individual’s brain. However, it should be noted that when attention is impaired due to Traumatic Brain Injuries, it is often mild. Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries may lead to memory disorder as shown in the next part.
It is imperative to note that Traumatic Brain Injuries lead to memory disorder. A memory disorder is a dysfunction in an individual’s capability of retaining, storage and remembrance of past information. NFL players with severe Traumatic Brain Injuries normally suffer from memory disorders. There are two types of memories. These are factual and procedural memory.
Factual or declarative memory is the memory that enables an individual to know that something is learned (Granacher, 2007). For instance, academic aspects like literature and memory are learned. On the other hand, procedural memory refers to an individual’s capability to perform a learned skill such as solving algebraic problems or shooting a basketball in the absence of conscious awareness of the learning experience. Therefore, declarative memory is explicit while procedural memory is implicit. Functional memory is important in maintaining of relationships, social functioning and goal directed behavior. It has been evidenced by Ashley (2010) and McKee, et al (2009) that explicit memories are vulnerable to medial temporal brain lesions and severe Traumatic Brain Injuries. When severe Traumatic Brain Injuries are severe, the victim cannot remember simple events. This normally happens to NFL players who incur severe head injuries during the games because they lose their memory. Among the 51 neuropathogically confirmed cases, football players represent 11%, especially those who have been playing Football between the ages 14 to 23 years (McKee, et al, 2009). Separately, a telephone based survey that was carried out by the University of Michigan Institute of Social research in collaboration with the NFL of about 1,063 retired NFL players, established that there was a 19% increase of memory related diseases among NFL players who had suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries (Sahler & Greenwald, 2012). Therefore, severe Traumatic Brain Injuries subject NFL players to memory disorder problems. These disorders affect the victim’s ability to store, retain and remember past information as required in for normal, healthy person. Apart from memory disorders, visual perceptional disorders can also result from Traumatic Brain Injuries as specified in the subsequent part.
Traumatic Brain Injuries cause visual perceptual disorders. Visual perceptual disorders hinder an individual from making sense of information taken in through his or her eyes. There are difficulties in processing and interpreting the information taken by one’s eyes. According to Granacher (2007), visual perceptual disorders are not so common among people who suffer closed Traumatic Brain Injuries. However, those who sustain brain contusions or hematomas are most likely to exhibit deficits in their visual perception. Evidence by Granacher (2007) shows that specifically, players who incur Traumatic Brain Injuries, bruising their right hemisphere or bleeding show a deficit of visual perception. Whenever there are lesions, which may or may not be confined entirely to the right hemisphere. Impaired vision is often complained of by many people who have Traumatic Brain Injuries (Granacher, 2007). This is because Traumatic Brain Injuries can cause direct injury to the visual pathways. It has been established that trauma to the occiput or countercoup injury to the occiput and posterior temporal areas cause an adverse effect to the primary and secondary visual association cortex. It has been established that Traumatic Brain Injuries can eventually lead to visual field defects such as neuropsychiatric syndromes of alexia, prosopagnosia and achromatopsia, as well as, visual agnosia (Granacher, 2007). On the other hand, when lesions are confined on the left parietal area of the brain rather than the right area, following Traumatic Brain Injuries, such injured people will tend to exhibit a sense of confusion, simplification and concrete handling of visual designs.NFL players who suffer Traumatic Brain Injuries are subject to visual perceptual disorders.
Conclusion
It has been established that contact sports such as American Football subject participants, especially players to head injuries. These may lead to Traumatic Brain Injuries to players and participants of such sports, which poses a high risk of suffering brain disorders or damage. Research affirms that there is a correlation between concussions sustained by professional athletes when playing football and long term alteration of brain functions of affected athletes. Concussions that result from brain injury among NFL players lead to various health effects. For instance, brain injury cause trauma to the victims and the society while it causes huge emotional and economical burdens. Traumatic Brain Injuries also cause cognitive, memory and visual perceptual disorders to players. Therefore, Traumatic Brain Injuries, which result from head injuries in collision sports, pose significant adverse effects on NFL players’ health.

References
Ashley, M. J. (2010). Traumatic Brain Injury: Rehabilitation, Treatment, and Case Management, Third Edition. New York: CRC Press.
CDC. (2014, March 4). Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainInjury/severe.html
Granacher, R. P. (2007). Traumatic Brain Injury: Methods for Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychiatric Assessment, Second Edition. New York: CRC Press.
McKee, A. C, et al. (2009). Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Athletes: Progressive Tauopathy following Repetitive Head Injury. Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, 68(7), 709–735.
Sahler, C. S., & Greenwald, B. D. (2012). Traumatic Brain Injury in Sports: A Review. Rehabilitation Research and Practice, 1-10.
Zhang, L., Young, K. H., & King, A. I. (2004). A Proposed Injury Treshold for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 126, 226-236.
Zollman, F. S. (2011). Manual of Traumatic Brain Injury Management. New York: Demos Medical Publishers.

Injuries in the N.F.L.

Order Description
Research Paper Final Draft is largely based on your inclusion of these elements and the overall quality of your writing. Your paper must contain the following elements.
1. Cover page and APA formatting:
You should include an APA-style cover page for your Research Paper. Your cover page should include the following: the title of your paper, your name, and the name of your university. The running head should include up to 50 characters from the title of the paper, along with a sequential page number in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Abstract:
The abstract is a 150-250 word summary of your Research Paper, and it should be written only after you have finished writing the entire paper because how your abstract is worded largely depends on the development of your paper. Your abstract should be accurate, self-contained, concise and specific, non-evaluative, coherent, and readable. Your abstract may be modeled after the theoretical paper model or empirical study model. Note that the abstract presented references MLA, but yours should be in APA style. The abstract should be the second page in the paper, after the cover page, and the abstract should be on its own page. The text of the paper itself should begin on page 3. Your abstract must meet the following standards: EH 1020, English Composition II 14
• Be 150-250 words
• Be located on the second page of your final draft
• Have a heading of Abstract that is centered at the top of the page.

3. Introduction:
There are some pitfalls to writing an introductory paragraph be aware.
4. Review of literature:
The review of literature should be a smooth transition from the introduction of your paper and should present a controlled summary of the conversation surrounding your topic.
5. Body paragraphs:
Each paragraph of the body of your Research Paper should be a cohesive unit. It should be tight, but developed. It should serve a function, and its purpose should always be to bolster the thesis. Therefore, you should use the following order for each paragraph in the body.
a. Topic sentence: This sentence summarizes the entire paragraph in one strong, well-written sentence, and it directly supports the thesis statement.
b. Explanation of topic sentence (1-2 sentences): Often times there is more to be said about the topic sentence, more explanation that is necessary in order for it to be a clear idea, so there are usually a few sentences that follow the topic sentence that explicate the idea more for the reader. These sentences not only “unpack” the topic sentence, but they also anticipate the evidence that will be used to support the topic sentence, usually indirectly.
c. Introduction to evidence (1-2 sentences): No piece of evidence (quotation, example, paraphrase, etc.) should be dropped into a paragraph without first introducing it. An introduction might include the title of the source, the author, and/or a short description of the source/author’s credentials. In this way, no evidence is presented without a context because it is this context that makes the evidence meaningful.
d. Evidence: The evidence that you present backs up your topic sentence, and by extension, supports your thesis statement. The evidence that you supply can be a number of things: a quotation from a source; a reasonable, illustrative example; a statistic; commentary from an interview; etc.
e. Explanation of evidence: No piece of evidence stands on its own or is convincing on its own. Although it may seem to draw a direct line to your topic sentence to support it, often the reader needs you to make the connection between the two. Further, the general rule is that for each sentence of quoted material, your explanation should be just as long, so if you include a block quotation, the block quotation should be met with an equally long explanation.

f. Transition (1-2 sentences): Transitions are essential for research papers because body paragraphs, especially, are written as units, and it is the transitions that allow for these units to be linked together.
6. Conclusion:
Your conclusion should pull together your entire paper. Do not consider the conclusion a summary of your paper; your abstract is the summary of your paper. Instead, your conclusion is your opportunity to suggest what might be done with your findings. A good conclusion will restate the thesis, place a judgment on the issue discussed, discuss the implications of your findings, issue a directive or call to action to the reader, and close out the paper with a strong final thought. However, depending upon your topic and your treatment of that topic, the conclusion may take different forms. Your conclusion for this paper must be at least 150 words. If the conclusion is less than the word count, it is likely you have not fully developed your conclusion, and this lack of development can severely impact your paper.
“SEE DRAFT BELOW”
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) in the NFL
Terry Hines
University

Abstract
It is obvious that contact sports have gained remarkable attention from American nationals. For instance, American Football is a common sport in the US. However, this is one sport, in which players are exposed to chances of severe injuries, especially head injuries. Severe injuries are reported frequently, though players wear protective equipment to reduce chances of injury. Those who sustain head injuries are most likely to suffer concussions. Given the correlation between concussions, Traumatic Brain Injuries and health effects on professional athletes, a critical evaluation of the adverse effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries on the health of NFL players has been carried out. The evaluation has established that Traumatic Brain Injuries pose various health risks to NFL players such as trauma, visual perceptual disorders, memory disorders and cognitive disorders.

Introduction
Contact sports are becoming ever more popular in America today. The implications of this are that most professional athletes started competing in their sports of choice at a very early age. Due to the nature of most contact sports, many if not all players are exposed to the probably of succumbing to injury at least once in their careers regardless of the sport. However, American football is one sport that its players are exposed to chances of severe injuries. Despite the fact that the players wear protective equipment to reduce chances of injury, they still do happen.
There are numerous injuries that a football player is exposed to. The most prevalent injuries include knee, ankle, upper leg, shoulder, and head injuries. For a very long time little concern had been paid to head injuries sustained while playing rugby. One cannot definitively say why little attention was paid to the long term effect to repeated head injuries that players are exposed to. Players do wear helmets to protect their heads but the fact of the matter is, football players still get head injuries and some result to concussions.
A concussion is defined head injury caused by a bump or sudden blow to one’s head. The brain being made up of soft tissue and suspended in spinal fluid in the head, a blow to the head could make the brain to hit the side of the brain causing injury. There has been growing concern surrounding the impact of concussion on professional athletes in the National Football League (NFL). Research conducted so far suggest there is a correlation between concussions sustained by professional athletes when playing football and long term decoration of brain functions of affected athletes.
Review of Literature
There are various consequences associated with concussions. The health consequences of concussions are well illustrated by an article by Guskiewicz, et al (2007). In the article, Guskiewicz and colleagues recorded the outcome of a study on the effects of concussions on mental health among professional football players. The study sought to examine the impact of repeated concussions or traumatic brain injury on mental health outcomes especially in the development of depression. Guskiewicz et’ al surveyed 2552 retired professional football players. The study focused on two health outcomes, namely mild cognitive impairment and depression. Results from the study show that all participants recorded or reported cases of clinical depression. However, the number of cases increased with the number of concussions, suggesting that multiple concussions increased the risk of depression and mild cognitive impairment. Players who reported one or more concussion was more likely to be diagnosed with depression. This particular article emphasizes the need for more research into the impact of concussions as well as the ways of treating them.
The negative effects of concussions are further illustrated by an article by Wohowiak (2015). In the article, Wohowiak noted that head injuries and their long-term effects are taking a forefront in sports discussions. According to the article, around 2.5 million hospital visits arise each year as a result of either mild or severe traumatic brain trauma. These visits result in either hospitalization or even sometimes death. The article further noted that the cost of managing traumatic brain injuries is immense, amounting to over $221 billion according to 2009 estimates. Wohowiak, (2015) further pointed out that traumatic brain injuries may lead to negative health outcomes and conditions, including sadness, irritability and difficulty thinking clearly among others. Long term effects include depression, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. These negative effects have pushed various stakeholders to adopt measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of concussions.
The potential negative impacts of concussions or mild brain injury could be the reason various institutions are devoting their resources to tackle the problem. An article by Rosenberg (2015) provides an overview of the actions taken by the University of California to tackle concussions. According to Rosenberg (2015), around3.8 million people in the US suffer from concussions each year. While, most people recover from the concussion, those who suffer from it become more vulnerable to another concussion and poorer health outcomes as compared to those who do not. Rosenberg further noted that UC has devoted a lot of resources in the diagnosis and provision of care to those who suffer from concussions. Together with the NCAA and the Department of Defense, UC is conducting a three-year study on concussions so as to understand the effect, as well as, their pathophysiology. The study will also shed light on whether players who suffer from concussions should be allowed to play again in the league. Over the last seven years, UC has invested a lot of resources to study the condition. There are more than 100 investigators from the institution conducting more than 330 studies on concussions or traumatic brain injuries.
Lack of knowledge about concussions, their diagnosis and treatment can also be a contributing factor in the increase in interest among various stakeholders in the NFL. An article published in the Industry News provides an important overview of the scope of funding of research that seeks to improve diagnosis and treatment of mild traumatic brain injury. According to the article, six finalists were awarded a total of $60 million under the Head Health Challenge 1 program. The finalists include the University of Montana, University of California, Brain Scope Company, Banyan Biomarkers and Medical College of Wisconsin. The Head Heath Challenge, a four-year program, seeks to increase knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of head concussions across the globe. The program is sponsored by General Electric, NFL, Conn and Fairfield (CLP, 2015).
The focus of the finalist that includes diagnosis and treatment provide a glimpse of the current knowledge on concussions, sentiments that are reflected by the articles by Rosenberg (2015) and Guskiewicz, et al (2007). The two articles noted that there is no formal way of diagnosing concussions, and the existing ones are out-dated. Banyan Biomarkers and the University of Florida are trying to develop a point of care instruments that can diagnose moderate and mild brain trauma using biomarkers. On the other hand, University of Montana is developing blood-based biomarkers to speed up the diagnosis of concussions. The studies have the potential to shed new light on concussions and their pathophysiology, as well as, the efficacy of new interventions.
An article Armstrong (2015) further illustrates the problems associated with the diagnosis and management of brain injuries. According to Armstrong (2015), the existing methods of managing brain trauma are mostly invasive and may not be appropriate for patients with mild or minor trauma. The current standard procedures are invasive in nature and involve the insertion of a catheter into the skull of the patient. Due to the negative impact of the procedure including the increased probability of infections, Phillips and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have teamed up to develop a non-invasive method of managing brain injuries. The new method incorporates MIT’s physiological modeling technology and Phillips ultrasound technology. The new technology will allow physicians to estimate trauma and, therefore, enable the doctors to manage the condition. The new modality will allow doctors to manage concussions and other forms of brain trauma without increasing the risk of patients suffering from brain damage that may result from invasive techniques.
Adverse Effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries on Health
There are various adverse health effects, which accrue from Traumatic Brain Injuries. For instance, Repeated Traumatic Brain Injuries among NFL players often cause trauma to those involved and a burden to the society. Traumatic Brain Injuries occur when the brain is damaged by sudden and violent injuries that cause trauma. Trauma renders an individual’s ability to integrate his or her emotional experience devastated. This subjects an individual to a threat of bodily integrity, sanity, and most shockingly, a threat of life. Often, people with trauma are unable to cope with a current, adverse effect on their health. They therefore, remain fearful to threats of death, psychosis and annihilation. The adverse effect of Traumatic Brain Injuries does not only fall on injured NFL players or victims, but also spreads to the society. Also, the effect is not felt on health aspects alone, but also causes economical, social and emotional prices on society. This burden is quite heavy on the individual and on society. According to Zhang, Young and King (2004), it is evident that movement of the brain and its functioning in an injured skull is hampered by the injury itself. Traumatic Brain Injuries on a NFL player may cause irreversible change in the brain functioning. Also, as evidenced by Zollman (2011), it is common for NFL games’ participants to continue playing when they incur minor head injuries because they have to exhibit a culture of toughness. This predisposes them to Traumatic Brain Injuries, putting them at a risk for repeated brain trauma as shown by Zollman (2011). For instance, a prospective cohort study carried on about 2,905 collegiate football players from 1999 to 2001 showed that 6.5% of the players had incurred more than one Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in one season, with 1.6% of the players incurring three or more concussions (Zollman, 2011). In another study, surveying certified athletic trainers in high school and collegiate football, 5.1% of 17,549 players were said to have had at least one concussion annually while 14.7% had more than one concussion in the same period (Zollman, 2011). It was also established that players who had more than three concussions were thrice more likely to develop trauma. The victims go through hard times as they seek to remedy or cope with their health situation. This also affects the society because such victims hail from families, which are part of the society.
In addition to trauma, Traumatic Brain Injuries among NFL players lead to cognitive disorders. Cognitive disorders are disorders in an individual’s mental health, which cause defects on learning, perception, memory and problem solving. It should be noted that serious head injuries can cause cognitive disorders, which in turn, hamper an individual’s functional ability in learning, memorizing, having a clear and right perception and critical problem solving. This means that victims of Traumatic Brain Injuries have normally undergone severe trauma. They have impairments in vigilance. Therefore, such people cannot maintain attention longitudinally for a long time, yet there are those who do show increased distractibility within the context of normal vigilance. Such people fail to exhibit appropriate divided and selective attention and sustained attention, as evidenced by Granacher (2007). CDC (2014) shows that about 5.3 million citizens of the United States live with Traumatic Brain Injuries related disability. They exhibit problems in creating and sustaining family and friend relationships, doing household tasks and participating in activities of daily living. This may happen to NFL players who incur Traumatic Brain Injuries. This is because Traumatic Brain Injuries adversely affect operation of control processes of the brain that are slow and effortful. Sustained attention, often referred to as vigilance is the ability to maintain concentration on a task over a continuous period. Divided attention, on the other hand, is the ability to work on two tasks simultaneously or multitask while selective attention is the ability to maintain concentration on a specific task amid distractions. With Traumatic Brain Injuries, impairments of attention occur, rendering the victim unable to process multiple stimuli or tasks. One of the major cognitive functions that is greatly affected by Traumatic Brain Injuries is divided attention because it requires a great degree of central processing. Deficiency or problems with cognitive functioning may not be recognized among injured people because they only become prominent when the cognitive load is placed as a demand on the injured individual’s brain. However, it should be noted that when attention is impaired due to Traumatic Brain Injuries, it is often mild. Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries may lead to memory disorder as shown in the next part.
It is imperative to note that Traumatic Brain Injuries lead to memory disorder. A memory disorder is a dysfunction in an individual’s capability of retaining, storage and remembrance of past information. NFL players with severe Traumatic Brain Injuries normally suffer from memory disorders. There are two types of memories. These are factual and procedural memory.
Factual or declarative memory is the memory that enables an individual to know that something is learned (Granacher, 2007). For instance, academic aspects like literature and memory are learned. On the other hand, procedural memory refers to an individual’s capability to perform a learned skill such as solving algebraic problems or shooting a basketball in the absence of conscious awareness of the learning experience. Therefore, declarative memory is explicit while procedural memory is implicit. Functional memory is important in maintaining of relationships, social functioning and goal directed behavior. It has been evidenced by Ashley (2010) and McKee, et al (2009) that explicit memories are vulnerable to medial temporal brain lesions and severe Traumatic Brain Injuries. When severe Traumatic Brain Injuries are severe, the victim cannot remember simple events. This normally happens to NFL players who incur severe head injuries during the games because they lose their memory. Among the 51 neuropathogically confirmed cases, football players represent 11%, especially those who have been playing Football between the ages 14 to 23 years (McKee, et al, 2009). Separately, a telephone based survey that was carried out by the University of Michigan Institute of Social research in collaboration with the NFL of about 1,063 retired NFL players, established that there was a 19% increase of memory related diseases among NFL players who had suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries (Sahler & Greenwald, 2012). Therefore, severe Traumatic Brain Injuries subject NFL players to memory disorder problems. These disorders affect the victim’s ability to store, retain and remember past information as required in for normal, healthy person. Apart from memory disorders, visual perceptional disorders can also result from Traumatic Brain Injuries as specified in the subsequent part.
Traumatic Brain Injuries cause visual perceptual disorders. Visual perceptual disorders hinder an individual from making sense of information taken in through his or her eyes. There are difficulties in processing and interpreting the information taken by one’s eyes. According to Granacher (2007), visual perceptual disorders are not so common among people who suffer closed Traumatic Brain Injuries. However, those who sustain brain contusions or hematomas are most likely to exhibit deficits in their visual perception. Evidence by Granacher (2007) shows that specifically, players who incur Traumatic Brain Injuries, bruising their right hemisphere or bleeding show a deficit of visual perception. Whenever there are lesions, which may or may not be confined entirely to the right hemisphere. Impaired vision is often complained of by many people who have Traumatic Brain Injuries (Granacher, 2007). This is because Traumatic Brain Injuries can cause direct injury to the visual pathways. It has been established that trauma to the occiput or countercoup injury to the occiput and posterior temporal areas cause an adverse effect to the primary and secondary visual association cortex. It has been established that Traumatic Brain Injuries can eventually lead to visual field defects such as neuropsychiatric syndromes of alexia, prosopagnosia and achromatopsia, as well as, visual agnosia (Granacher, 2007). On the other hand, when lesions are confined on the left parietal area of the brain rather than the right area, following Traumatic Brain Injuries, such injured people will tend to exhibit a sense of confusion, simplification and concrete handling of visual designs.NFL players who suffer Traumatic Brain Injuries are subject to visual perceptual disorders.
Conclusion
It has been established that contact sports such as American Football subject participants, especially players to head injuries. These may lead to Traumatic Brain Injuries to players and participants of such sports, which poses a high risk of suffering brain disorders or damage. Research affirms that there is a correlation between concussions sustained by professional athletes when playing football and long term alteration of brain functions of affected athletes. Concussions that result from brain injury among NFL players lead to various health effects. For instance, brain injury cause trauma to the victims and the society while it causes huge emotional and economical burdens. Traumatic Brain Injuries also cause cognitive, memory and visual perceptual disorders to players. Therefore, Traumatic Brain Injuries, which result from head injuries in collision sports, pose significant adverse effects on NFL players’ health.

References
Ashley, M. J. (2010). Traumatic Brain Injury: Rehabilitation, Treatment, and Case Management, Third Edition. New York: CRC Press.
CDC. (2014, March 4). Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainInjury/severe.html
Granacher, R. P. (2007). Traumatic Brain Injury: Methods for Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychiatric Assessment, Second Edition. New York: CRC Press.
McKee, A. C, et al. (2009). Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Athletes: Progressive Tauopathy following Repetitive Head Injury. Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, 68(7), 709–735.
Sahler, C. S., & Greenwald, B. D. (2012). Traumatic Brain Injury in Sports: A Review. Rehabilitation Research and Practice, 1-10.
Zhang, L., Young, K. H., & King, A. I. (2004). A Proposed Injury Treshold for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 126, 226-236.
Zollman, F. S. (2011). Manual of Traumatic Brain Injury Management. New York: Demos Medical Publishers.

Injuries in the N.F.L.

Order Description
Research Paper Final Draft is largely based on your inclusion of these elements and the overall quality of your writing. Your paper must contain the following elements.
1. Cover page and APA formatting:
You should include an APA-style cover page for your Research Paper. Your cover page should include the following: the title of your paper, your name, and the name of your university. The running head should include up to 50 characters from the title of the paper, along with a sequential page number in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Abstract:
The abstract is a 150-250 word summary of your Research Paper, and it should be written only after you have finished writing the entire paper because how your abstract is worded largely depends on the development of your paper. Your abstract should be accurate, self-contained, concise and specific, non-evaluative, coherent, and readable. Your abstract may be modeled after the theoretical paper model or empirical study model. Note that the abstract presented references MLA, but yours should be in APA style. The abstract should be the second page in the paper, after the cover page, and the abstract should be on its own page. The text of the paper itself should begin on page 3. Your abstract must meet the following standards: EH 1020, English Composition II 14
• Be 150-250 words
• Be located on the second page of your final draft
• Have a heading of Abstract that is centered at the top of the page.

3. Introduction:
There are some pitfalls to writing an introductory paragraph be aware.
4. Review of literature:
The review of literature should be a smooth transition from the introduction of your paper and should present a controlled summary of the conversation surrounding your topic.
5. Body paragraphs:
Each paragraph of the body of your Research Paper should be a cohesive unit. It should be tight, but developed. It should serve a function, and its purpose should always be to bolster the thesis. Therefore, you should use the following order for each paragraph in the body.
a. Topic sentence: This sentence summarizes the entire paragraph in one strong, well-written sentence, and it directly supports the thesis statement.
b. Explanation of topic sentence (1-2 sentences): Often times there is more to be said about the topic sentence, more explanation that is necessary in order for it to be a clear idea, so there are usually a few sentences that follow the topic sentence that explicate the idea more for the reader. These sentences not only “unpack” the topic sentence, but they also anticipate the evidence that will be used to support the topic sentence, usually indirectly.
c. Introduction to evidence (1-2 sentences): No piece of evidence (quotation, example, paraphrase, etc.) should be dropped into a paragraph without first introducing it. An introduction might include the title of the source, the author, and/or a short description of the source/author’s credentials. In this way, no evidence is presented without a context because it is this context that makes the evidence meaningful.
d. Evidence: The evidence that you present backs up your topic sentence, and by extension, supports your thesis statement. The evidence that you supply can be a number of things: a quotation from a source; a reasonable, illustrative example; a statistic; commentary from an interview; etc.
e. Explanation of evidence: No piece of evidence stands on its own or is convincing on its own. Although it may seem to draw a direct line to your topic sentence to support it, often the reader needs you to make the connection between the two. Further, the general rule is that for each sentence of quoted material, your explanation should be just as long, so if you include a block quotation, the block quotation should be met with an equally long explanation.

f. Transition (1-2 sentences): Transitions are essential for research papers because body paragraphs, especially, are written as units, and it is the transitions that allow for these units to be linked together.
6. Conclusion:
Your conclusion should pull together your entire paper. Do not consider the conclusion a summary of your paper; your abstract is the summary of your paper. Instead, your conclusion is your opportunity to suggest what might be done with your findings. A good conclusion will restate the thesis, place a judgment on the issue discussed, discuss the implications of your findings, issue a directive or call to action to the reader, and close out the paper with a strong final thought. However, depending upon your topic and your treatment of that topic, the conclusion may take different forms. Your conclusion for this paper must be at least 150 words. If the conclusion is less than the word count, it is likely you have not fully developed your conclusion, and this lack of development can severely impact your paper.
“SEE DRAFT BELOW”
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) in the NFL
Terry Hines
University

Abstract
It is obvious that contact sports have gained remarkable attention from American nationals. For instance, American Football is a common sport in the US. However, this is one sport, in which players are exposed to chances of severe injuries, especially head injuries. Severe injuries are reported frequently, though players wear protective equipment to reduce chances of injury. Those who sustain head injuries are most likely to suffer concussions. Given the correlation between concussions, Traumatic Brain Injuries and health effects on professional athletes, a critical evaluation of the adverse effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries on the health of NFL players has been carried out. The evaluation has established that Traumatic Brain Injuries pose various health risks to NFL players such as trauma, visual perceptual disorders, memory disorders and cognitive disorders.

Introduction
Contact sports are becoming ever more popular in America today. The implications of this are that most professional athletes started competing in their sports of choice at a very early age. Due to the nature of most contact sports, many if not all players are exposed to the probably of succumbing to injury at least once in their careers regardless of the sport. However, American football is one sport that its players are exposed to chances of severe injuries. Despite the fact that the players wear protective equipment to reduce chances of injury, they still do happen.
There are numerous injuries that a football player is exposed to. The most prevalent injuries include knee, ankle, upper leg, shoulder, and head injuries. For a very long time little concern had been paid to head injuries sustained while playing rugby. One cannot definitively say why little attention was paid to the long term effect to repeated head injuries that players are exposed to. Players do wear helmets to protect their heads but the fact of the matter is, football players still get head injuries and some result to concussions.
A concussion is defined head injury caused by a bump or sudden blow to one’s head. The brain being made up of soft tissue and suspended in spinal fluid in the head, a blow to the head could make the brain to hit the side of the brain causing injury. There has been growing concern surrounding the impact of concussion on professional athletes in the National Football League (NFL). Research conducted so far suggest there is a correlation between concussions sustained by professional athletes when playing football and long term decoration of brain functions of affected athletes.
Review of Literature
There are various consequences associated with concussions. The health consequences of concussions are well illustrated by an article by Guskiewicz, et al (2007). In the article, Guskiewicz and colleagues recorded the outcome of a study on the effects of concussions on mental health among professional football players. The study sought to examine the impact of repeated concussions or traumatic brain injury on mental health outcomes especially in the development of depression. Guskiewicz et’ al surveyed 2552 retired professional football players. The study focused on two health outcomes, namely mild cognitive impairment and depression. Results from the study show that all participants recorded or reported cases of clinical depression. However, the number of cases increased with the number of concussions, suggesting that multiple concussions increased the risk of depression and mild cognitive impairment. Players who reported one or more concussion was more likely to be diagnosed with depression. This particular article emphasizes the need for more research into the impact of concussions as well as the ways of treating them.
The negative effects of concussions are further illustrated by an article by Wohowiak (2015). In the article, Wohowiak noted that head injuries and their long-term effects are taking a forefront in sports discussions. According to the article, around 2.5 million hospital visits arise each year as a result of either mild or severe traumatic brain trauma. These visits result in either hospitalization or even sometimes death. The article further noted that the cost of managing traumatic brain injuries is immense, amounting to over $221 billion according to 2009 estimates. Wohowiak, (2015) further pointed out that traumatic brain injuries may lead to negative health outcomes and conditions, including sadness, irritability and difficulty thinking clearly among others. Long term effects include depression, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. These negative effects have pushed various stakeholders to adopt measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of concussions.
The potential negative impacts of concussions or mild brain injury could be the reason various institutions are devoting their resources to tackle the problem. An article by Rosenberg (2015) provides an overview of the actions taken by the University of California to tackle concussions. According to Rosenberg (2015), around3.8 million people in the US suffer from concussions each year. While, most people recover from the concussion, those who suffer from it become more vulnerable to another concussion and poorer health outcomes as compared to those who do not. Rosenberg further noted that UC has devoted a lot of resources in the diagnosis and provision of care to those who suffer from concussions. Together with the NCAA and the Department of Defense, UC is conducting a three-year study on concussions so as to understand the effect, as well as, their pathophysiology. The study will also shed light on whether players who suffer from concussions should be allowed to play again in the league. Over the last seven years, UC has invested a lot of resources to study the condition. There are more than 100 investigators from the institution conducting more than 330 studies on concussions or traumatic brain injuries.
Lack of knowledge about concussions, their diagnosis and treatment can also be a contributing factor in the increase in interest among various stakeholders in the NFL. An article published in the Industry News provides an important overview of the scope of funding of research that seeks to improve diagnosis and treatment of mild traumatic brain injury. According to the article, six finalists were awarded a total of $60 million under the Head Health Challenge 1 program. The finalists include the University of Montana, University of California, Brain Scope Company, Banyan Biomarkers and Medical College of Wisconsin. The Head Heath Challenge, a four-year program, seeks to increase knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of head concussions across the globe. The program is sponsored by General Electric, NFL, Conn and Fairfield (CLP, 2015).
The focus of the finalist that includes diagnosis and treatment provide a glimpse of the current knowledge on concussions, sentiments that are reflected by the articles by Rosenberg (2015) and Guskiewicz, et al (2007). The two articles noted that there is no formal way of diagnosing concussions, and the existing ones are out-dated. Banyan Biomarkers and the University of Florida are trying to develop a point of care instruments that can diagnose moderate and mild brain trauma using biomarkers. On the other hand, University of Montana is developing blood-based biomarkers to speed up the diagnosis of concussions. The studies have the potential to shed new light on concussions and their pathophysiology, as well as, the efficacy of new interventions.
An article Armstrong (2015) further illustrates the problems associated with the diagnosis and management of brain injuries. According to Armstrong (2015), the existing methods of managing brain trauma are mostly invasive and may not be appropriate for patients with mild or minor trauma. The current standard procedures are invasive in nature and involve the insertion of a catheter into the skull of the patient. Due to the negative impact of the procedure including the increased probability of infections, Phillips and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have teamed up to develop a non-invasive method of managing brain injuries. The new method incorporates MIT’s physiological modeling technology and Phillips ultrasound technology. The new technology will allow physicians to estimate trauma and, therefore, enable the doctors to manage the condition. The new modality will allow doctors to manage concussions and other forms of brain trauma without increasing the risk of patients suffering from brain damage that may result from invasive techniques.
Adverse Effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries on Health
There are various adverse health effects, which accrue from Traumatic Brain Injuries. For instance, Repeated Traumatic Brain Injuries among NFL players often cause trauma to those involved and a burden to the society. Traumatic Brain Injuries occur when the brain is damaged by sudden and violent injuries that cause trauma. Trauma renders an individual’s ability to integrate his or her emotional experience devastated. This subjects an individual to a threat of bodily integrity, sanity, and most shockingly, a threat of life. Often, people with trauma are unable to cope with a current, adverse effect on their health. They therefore, remain fearful to threats of death, psychosis and annihilation. The adverse effect of Traumatic Brain Injuries does not only fall on injured NFL players or victims, but also spreads to the society. Also, the effect is not felt on health aspects alone, but also causes economical, social and emotional prices on society. This burden is quite heavy on the individual and on society. According to Zhang, Young and King (2004), it is evident that movement of the brain and its functioning in an injured skull is hampered by the injury itself. Traumatic Brain Injuries on a NFL player may cause irreversible change in the brain functioning. Also, as evidenced by Zollman (2011), it is common for NFL games’ participants to continue playing when they incur minor head injuries because they have to exhibit a culture of toughness. This predisposes them to Traumatic Brain Injuries, putting them at a risk for repeated brain trauma as shown by Zollman (2011). For instance, a prospective cohort study carried on about 2,905 collegiate football players from 1999 to 2001 showed that 6.5% of the players had incurred more than one Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in one season, with 1.6% of the players incurring three or more concussions (Zollman, 2011). In another study, surveying certified athletic trainers in high school and collegiate football, 5.1% of 17,549 players were said to have had at least one concussion annually while 14.7% had more than one concussion in the same period (Zollman, 2011). It was also established that players who had more than three concussions were thrice more likely to develop trauma. The victims go through hard times as they seek to remedy or cope with their health situation. This also affects the society because such victims hail from families, which are part of the society.
In addition to trauma, Traumatic Brain Injuries among NFL players lead to cognitive disorders. Cognitive disorders are disorders in an individual’s mental health, which cause defects on learning, perception, memory and problem solving. It should be noted that serious head injuries can cause cognitive disorders, which in turn, hamper an individual’s functional ability in learning, memorizing, having a clear and right perception and critical problem solving. This means that victims of Traumatic Brain Injuries have normally undergone severe trauma. They have impairments in vigilance. Therefore, such people cannot maintain attention longitudinally for a long time, yet there are those who do show increased distractibility within the context of normal vigilance. Such people fail to exhibit appropriate divided and selective attention and sustained attention, as evidenced by Granacher (2007). CDC (2014) shows that about 5.3 million citizens of the United States live with Traumatic Brain Injuries related disability. They exhibit problems in creating and sustaining family and friend relationships, doing household tasks and participating in activities of daily living. This may happen to NFL players who incur Traumatic Brain Injuries. This is because Traumatic Brain Injuries adversely affect operation of control processes of the brain that are slow and effortful. Sustained attention, often referred to as vigilance is the ability to maintain concentration on a task over a continuous period. Divided attention, on the other hand, is the ability to work on two tasks simultaneously or multitask while selective attention is the ability to maintain concentration on a specific task amid distractions. With Traumatic Brain Injuries, impairments of attention occur, rendering the victim unable to process multiple stimuli or tasks. One of the major cognitive functions that is greatly affected by Traumatic Brain Injuries is divided attention because it requires a great degree of central processing. Deficiency or problems with cognitive functioning may not be recognized among injured people because they only become prominent when the cognitive load is placed as a demand on the injured individual’s brain. However, it should be noted that when attention is impaired due to Traumatic Brain Injuries, it is often mild. Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries may lead to memory disorder as shown in the next part.
It is imperative to note that Traumatic Brain Injuries lead to memory disorder. A memory disorder is a dysfunction in an individual’s capability of retaining, storage and remembrance of past information. NFL players with severe Traumatic Brain Injuries normally suffer from memory disorders. There are two types of memories. These are factual and procedural memory.
Factual or declarative memory is the memory that enables an individual to know that something is learned (Granacher, 2007). For instance, academic aspects like literature and memory are learned. On the other hand, procedural memory refers to an individual’s capability to perform a learned skill such as solving algebraic problems or shooting a basketball in the absence of conscious awareness of the learning experience. Therefore, declarative memory is explicit while procedural memory is implicit. Functional memory is important in maintaining of relationships, social functioning and goal directed behavior. It has been evidenced by Ashley (2010) and McKee, et al (2009) that explicit memories are vulnerable to medial temporal brain lesions and severe Traumatic Brain Injuries. When severe Traumatic Brain Injuries are severe, the victim cannot remember simple events. This normally happens to NFL players who incur severe head injuries during the games because they lose their memory. Among the 51 neuropathogically confirmed cases, football players represent 11%, especially those who have been playing Football between the ages 14 to 23 years (McKee, et al, 2009). Separately, a telephone based survey that was carried out by the University of Michigan Institute of Social research in collaboration with the NFL of about 1,063 retired NFL players, established that there was a 19% increase of memory related diseases among NFL players who had suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries (Sahler & Greenwald, 2012). Therefore, severe Traumatic Brain Injuries subject NFL players to memory disorder problems. These disorders affect the victim’s ability to store, retain and remember past information as required in for normal, healthy person. Apart from memory disorders, visual perceptional disorders can also result from Traumatic Brain Injuries as specified in the subsequent part.
Traumatic Brain Injuries cause visual perceptual disorders. Visual perceptual disorders hinder an individual from making sense of information taken in through his or her eyes. There are difficulties in processing and interpreting the information taken by one’s eyes. According to Granacher (2007), visual perceptual disorders are not so common among people who suffer closed Traumatic Brain Injuries. However, those who sustain brain contusions or hematomas are most likely to exhibit deficits in their visual perception. Evidence by Granacher (2007) shows that specifically, players who incur Traumatic Brain Injuries, bruising their right hemisphere or bleeding show a deficit of visual perception. Whenever there are lesions, which may or may not be confined entirely to the right hemisphere. Impaired vision is often complained of by many people who have Traumatic Brain Injuries (Granacher, 2007). This is because Traumatic Brain Injuries can cause direct injury to the visual pathways. It has been established that trauma to the occiput or countercoup injury to the occiput and posterior temporal areas cause an adverse effect to the primary and secondary visual association cortex. It has been established that Traumatic Brain Injuries can eventually lead to visual field defects such as neuropsychiatric syndromes of alexia, prosopagnosia and achromatopsia, as well as, visual agnosia (Granacher, 2007). On the other hand, when lesions are confined on the left parietal area of the brain rather than the right area, following Traumatic Brain Injuries, such injured people will tend to exhibit a sense of confusion, simplification and concrete handling of visual designs.NFL players who suffer Traumatic Brain Injuries are subject to visual perceptual disorders.
Conclusion
It has been established that contact sports such as American Football subject participants, especially players to head injuries. These may lead to Traumatic Brain Injuries to players and participants of such sports, which poses a high risk of suffering brain disorders or damage. Research affirms that there is a correlation between concussions sustained by professional athletes when playing football and long term alteration of brain functions of affected athletes. Concussions that result from brain injury among NFL players lead to various health effects. For instance, brain injury cause trauma to the victims and the society while it causes huge emotional and economical burdens. Traumatic Brain Injuries also cause cognitive, memory and visual perceptual disorders to players. Therefore, Traumatic Brain Injuries, which result from head injuries in collision sports, pose significant adverse effects on NFL players’ health.

References
Ashley, M. J. (2010). Traumatic Brain Injury: Rehabilitation, Treatment, and Case Management, Third Edition. New York: CRC Press.
CDC. (2014, March 4). Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/TraumaticBrainInjury/severe.html
Granacher, R. P. (2007). Traumatic Brain Injury: Methods for Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychiatric Assessment, Second Edition. New York: CRC Press.
McKee, A. C, et al. (2009). Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Athletes: Progressive Tauopathy following Repetitive Head Injury. Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, 68(7), 709–735.
Sahler, C. S., & Greenwald, B. D. (2012). Traumatic Brain Injury in Sports: A Review. Rehabilitation Research and Practice, 1-10.
Zhang, L., Young, K. H., & King, A. I. (2004). A Proposed Injury Treshold for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 126, 226-236.
Zollman, F. S. (2011). Manual of Traumatic Brain Injury Management. New York: Demos Medical Publishers.